Lucky draw

A young German side stole a late equalizer against an energetic Poland in an international soccer friendly on Tuesday night to deliver a 2-2 result and avoid a first-ever defeat to their eastern neighbors.

A strike from Cacau four minutes into added time from what was the last kick of the game spared German blushes against a 10-man Poland playing before a vibrant home crowd in the northern city of Gdansk.

Both goals for Poland came from players who ply their trade in the German Bundesliga with league champions Borussia Dortmund.

Striker Robert Lewandowski put the hosts ahead in the 55th minute with a sliding finish between two defenders after German goalie Tim Weise had left his line to charge down an earlier Polish attack on his goal.

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos pulled his side level on 68 minutes when he netted a dubious penalty, but the hosts were reduced to 10 men when defender Arkadiusz Glowacki was sent off for a second yellow card on 80 minutes.

Jakub Blaszczykowski - known as Kuba for short - fired the home nation back into the lead in the 91st minute from the penalty spot after Wiese brought down Pawel Brozek in the box.

But just as Poland looked to have tied up their first-ever win over Germany in 17 attempts, Cacau poked in a goal from point blank after Thomas Müller made some space down the right after losing his defender and fired in a low ball into the box.

Ins and outs

Germany coach Joachim Löw made a host of changes to his starting XI after Germany beat Austria 6-2 on Friday night, confirming his side's place at next year's European championships - to be hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine - in the process.

Vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, play-maker Mesut Özil and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer all missed the trip and Löw opted for a 4-1-4-1 formation for the first time.

Germany's teenage star Mario Götze joined Kroos in the middle with Lukas Podolski and Andre Schürrle on the wings with veteran Miroslav Klose up front, but the experiment nearly back-fired.

"It was a very special game," said Polish-born German striker Podolski. "We had some good chances in the first-half and if we had scored our goals, things would have looked differently.

"But you have to compliment the Poles, they put up a great fight."

Author: Darren Mara (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Sarah Harman